Neon Lights Director And Stars On Portraying Trauma And Mental Health In Film: Exclusive Interview – The Illuminerdi

Neon lights is a new psychological thriller that takes a dark look at trauma. Neon lights follows Clay Amani (Dana Abraham), a brilliant tech mogul who is trying to keep everything together as his company teeters on the brink of a hostile takeover. Following the advice of his therapist, Clay pulls the plug and invites the estranged foster siblings to his estranged home in an attempt to reconcile. But old resentments and tension boil over and when guests start mysteriously disappearing, the reunion becomes even more dangerous.

We had the opportunity to speak with Neon lights writer and star Dana Abraham, director Rouzbeh Heydari and actress Brenna Coates. During our interview, Brenna, Rouzbeh, and Dana discussed the importance of mental health and why they wanted to portray it on screen in an authentic and respectful way. Director Rouzbeh Heydari talked about how trauma was a big inspiration for the story of Neon lights.

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“The story of Neon lights was inspired by people who have to deal with trauma, many traumas exist in everyone and everyone’s trauma is valid, no matter what it is. And I guess it’s a story inspired by trauma and healing, dealing with trauma. Mental health issues are very near and dear to me, something I always think should be at the forefront of the conversations we have. You can call in sick and go see a dentist, because your tooth hurts. But what happens when your mind hurts? The same courtesies, I think, should be extended to that. And that was the inspiration, to keep the conversation alive, the conversation about mental health.”

Mental health is a topic of enormous importance now more than ever. Not only are more people than ever more aware of mental health and mental illness, but it’s starting to be less stigmatized. It is something that people are willing to talk about and seek appropriate treatment for their own mental health. Rouzbeh Heydari also spoke about working with professionals in the field of psychology to ensure that they not only represented Clay’s mental health authentically, but also respectfully.

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“I would look at a lot of the character rhythms, behavioral qualities and traits and obviously a big part of the movie is that, so I did my due diligence because I really didn’t want to make an exploitative movie. I wanted to make it as authentic as I could. And I talked to a lot of practitioners, some even that I work with, that I’ve worked with for years.

And some even in universities, like the University of Toronto. I know someone I took this script to, and I just got their input, their feedback. I really wanted to represent this in a genuine light. So I did my best to do a lot of research and open doors to try to figure out if what we’re doing is accurate and not misrepresented.”

During the interview, we asked Rouzbeh Heydari if the treatment shown in the film was inspired by PTSD immersion therapy used to help war veterans, which he confirmed. Brenna Coates plays Clay’s therapist in Neon lights who is trying to help him accept and heal his trauma. When we talked to Brenna Coates about Neon lights spoke about the importance of trauma-informed storytelling and mental health.

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“Because it is everything. I’m reading a book right now and it’s called What happened to you? I’m sure it’s everywhere right now, and it’s from Oprah and Dr. Bruce Perry, who is a very renowned psychologist. The point is that it is not to ask what happened to you, but what happened to you. I mean, you just have no idea what people carry around with them every day. And I think PTSD and trauma weren’t even considered a factor in people’s health or mental health years ago and now, thank God, they are. I think it’s everything, I think it’s everything.”

DANA ABRAHAM REVEALS THE SURPRISING INFLUENCE OF THE PANDEMIC ON NEON LIGHTS

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Dana Abraham, who wrote the script and stars as Clay, also spoke about how the global trauma of the pandemic was part of what inspired Neon lights. Everyone in the world has been living through this catastrophic global event that has lasted for years and is still going on. Unlike most movies inspired by the pandemic, Neon lights it doesn’t really deal with anything related to real-life tragedy.

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As I say, I have written Neon lights a couple of years ago, but I really started working with Rouzbeh around June 2020. We wanted to distill the project and really create something that was magical, something that really focused and emphasized the issues that we were all dealing with during the height of the pandemic, which was mental health, childhood trauma, financial failure, family, romance, all those different aspects of our daily lives that I think the general population was feeling. It was the first time we were locked up. I mean, obviously apart from me getting grounded when I was like eight years old, I’ve never been locked up in my house before.

Suddenly we were forced to face all our fears, all our problems, and we couldn’t run away from it. We couldn’t hide it with jobs. We couldn’t hide it with outdoor festivities like happy hour and drinking and all that, right? When we started working on Neon lightswe wanted to capture all of those moments and themes, but also make it entertaining, and we did that by making a psychological thriller that was suspenseful and riveting, but gave us the opportunity to touch on all of these different themes.

Neon lights explores trauma through an intense thriller with twists and turns all the way to the end. Dana Abraham brings Clay to life in a truly amazing way and the portrayal of mental health is compelling. Representation of not only mental health and trauma, but also treatment is extremely important. Treatment standardization can be an important part of helping people find the treatment they need to live a healthier life. Neon lights Drawing inspiration not only from the real-world trauma of the pandemic, but the treatment of PTSD is intriguing and adds a depth to the thriller beyond what one might expect.

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Neon lights is now available in digital format and VOD. you are going to see it Neon lights? Why do you think it is important to explore trauma and mental health in the media? How do you think PTSD should be explored in the media? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or on our social networks and check back with The Illuminerdi for more information.

KEEP READING: NEON LIGHTS STAR DANA ABRAHAM REVEALS THE INSPIRATION OF HEATH LEDGER’S JOKER: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

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